It's probably the most famous office in the world - the Oval Office of the President of the United States. Every four years, two people fight it out with the voters to be the one who gets to occupy that room from which so many world-changing decisions are made. And with the President comes a supporting cast, of course, that includes a Chief of Staff, a Political Director, a National Security Advisor, and many others. The greatest perk at the White House has little to do with how nice an office you have or even how much money you make. It's all about your proximity to the President's office and, more importantly, what kind of access you have to him there. Some of the President's staff see him barely at all; others see him occasionally; but there are trusted few who are in and out of the Oval Office several times a day. Given the weight of what goes on in that room, those are some of the most privileged and powerful people in the land.
We didn't have much of a car in the first place. It was less of a car by the end of the day. We hadn't been married very long, and our used car was pretty humble - but it was ours. We were in heavy traffic in downtown Chicago about five o'clock one afternoon, sitting in the middle of one of those Rush Hour blood clots they call a "traffic jam." I'd stopped for a red light not far from the Art Institute on Michigan Boulevard. I still can picture this. To our right, was a city bus that pretty much blocked my view of the traffic on the intersecting street. The light turned green, and I drove out into the intersection. Bam! Suddenly we were hit hard, stopped cold, and left with a crumpled hood with smoke coming from underneath. A delivery truck had run the red light and right into us. Thankfully, we weren't hurt, but our little car was! It wouldn't move. So we just went to the curb and stood on the sidewalk, waiting for help to come and watching as one driver after another pulled up to this car of ours that was obviously wrecked and unoccupied - and honked. Weird!
I'd rather not have to use one of those carts to carry my groceries out to the parking lot. If you take it out there, you should be nice and return it to where it goes. Right? No, I'd rather use the mule approach, carrying every possible bag I can in my arms, my hands, hanging from my shoulders. So here I am, moving precariously toward the door of the store, with every appendage committed. Problem: how am I going to open the door that goes to the parking lot? If I start walking toward it, it remains closed, threatening my bodily welfare and my new treasures when I walk into that door. But if I just stand there, it won't open either. Well, thankfully, you know. Stores have automatic doors. The door remains closed, though, if I stand still, and it remains closed if I only walk part of the way toward it. But as I walk steadily toward it until I'm close to it - voila! - the door opens just before I need to go through it!
The book is called Good to Great. It's a thought-provoking book on management written by Jim Collins and a research team that he headed. They identified eleven of the most effective companies in the United States, and then they pursued this question: "What specifically makes these companies so different?" This research actually challenged many of the author's preconceptions. There were actually lots of surprises. Interestingly, the first thing Collins and his team point to as common to every one of these consistently successful companies is this, and it's a surprise - the modesty of the various CEOs who led them. They suggest that the starting point of a great company is a humble leader - highly focused, sometimes driven people - but known for being gracious, self-effacing, understated. I guess in a word, humble.
Our friend, Mary Ann, was just driving down the road recently when her precocious five-year-old piped up from the back seat. It was one of those moments. He said, "Mommy, didn't you say that Jesus was building a beautiful home for us in heaven?" She assured him that's exactly what Jesus is doing. "Well, Mommy, we've got our house here, and then we've got the mountain house. That seems like too many houses. Shouldn't we give one of them away?" I'm not sure how you answer a question like that.
Our daughter might still be sucking on her binky if we hadn't negotiated a deal. She was very attached to that pacifier, long after she really didn't need it anymore. Then my wife struck that bargain - the doll that our girl really wanted in exchange for her binky. From that day on, the binky was no more. I kept it in a drawer for my tough days. Not long ago, our son and daughter-in-law had a similar crossroads moment with our granddaughter. She could not imagine life without her binky, until Mommy and Daddy announced her Bye-Bye Binky Party. Did you ever go to one of those? On that day, she would surrender her binky and there would be a party in her honor with cake, decorations and even little presents. And suddenly, she didn't need her binky anymore!
Kids count the days. Teachers count the days. Principals count the days. Until everybody can shout those happiest of all words, "School's out!" Police cars sport bumper stickers that warn drivers to be extra careful. Same reason: "School's out." And graduations are real milestones because you don't ever have to go back to that school if you don't want to! I hate to rain on anybody's parade, but that "school's out" thing is actually a myth. Or at least it should be.
Someone finally started looking at us Americans and realizing that a bunch of us are a whole lot bigger than we ought to be. And I don't mean we're too tall! You know? I know what the weight battle is all about - I know it's hard, I know your weight has nothing to do with your worth, but it can have something to do with your health. I guess all the talk about our weight and our health has even affected some of the fast-food restaurants - who might conceivably have something to do with the "widening of America." Oh, they're changing, having healthier offerings and reducing fat and sodium. And then, not too long ago, they started to get rid of "super-sizing it." Remember, we'd go in and they would ask you after you'd placed your order, "Would you like to super-size that?" They might as well have asked, "Would you like to super-size you?" In many places, there's no more super-sizing.
I think it had something to do with moving a piano. I've been part of moving one of those monsters, and I know what a bear it is to do it. Fortunately, we had plenty of guys to share the load. I guess my Dad didn't. Ultimately, he said moving a piano was a major reason he had to have one of those difficult operations - actually to repair a hernia. There weren't enough men to bear the load of that piano that they moved at church. Well, for at least one man - my Dad, the load was too much to bear without some major damage.
Children can be so refreshing. They tell it like it is, and they often see it like it is better than we grownups do. Our little granddaughter was asking questions about Jesus for several months. One thing her parents had repeatedly explained to her was how Jesus cleans our hearts from the sins we've done. Because she's young, Mom and Dad didn't push her; they just responded to her natural questions. Well, eventually, she told her daddy that she was, in her words, "afraid of sin." That's not a bad thing to be afraid of. The next day she said, "Daddy, I want to ask Jesus in my heart." And in her simple, childlike way, that's exactly what she did. Not long afterwards, she joyfully said, "Grandma, I have Jesus in my heart." Grandma told her what a happy thing that was. Then Grandma began to talk about how Mommy has Jesus in her heart, Daddy has Jesus in his heart, her Grandma and Granddad, her aunt and uncle. Suddenly she began to shake her head. She said, "No, no, no! Only children have Jesus!"
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